A Second Chance for Redemption
by TimeTurner Alchemist
Summary: When Kane lost all the people he had cared for he thought there was no more reason to live. Just to exsist from then on. But when an old friend offers him a way to prevent all of the pain Kane jumps at the chance. Can he stop the events before they happen
1. The Past Always Catches Up with You

**Hello All! I have another story! And I'm going to update this one a lot! And I do not own the Fullmetal Alchemist world where this story is based. That belongs to Hiromu Arakawa!**

**Note to All: Though the story is based in the Fullmetal Alchemist world and although there is a great deal of talk of the certain aspects of it, there is little or no mention of the characters that we all know and love. This is based all around my Original Characters. So don't give me a hard time about it. Because if you do, flamers I warn you, I WILL make marshmallows out of you and roast you over your own flames! And I warn you now, since there are parts of Central unexplored by the manga or anime, I will be naming plaes you've probably haven't heard to be in Central or otherwise.**

**Now with that said...On to the story!**

There were times when he wished he could change the past. There were times when he got on his knees and screamed in agony. There were times when he collapsed on the ground and cried until no more tears would come.

But mostly he just gazed blankly upon the tombstones.

The sun shown brightly on that cold autumn morning on October 16th, 1926. Kane stared with his empty eyes on the three graves. Fate had now taken away all that was dear to him. He stood at the graves in Central's main cemetery where the three most important people of his life were buried. He moved his head to the left, casting a look upon the farthest stone. It read 'Jake Galen. Born in 1900. Died in 1916. Age 16. A Wonderful Friend and Son'. Below it had been hand chiseled, 'We'll miss you buddy'. Kane could see him now. His dark brown hair, his tan skin and his hopeful green eyes attached to a face that spoke of high hopes.

He looked at the one in the center. 'Nyemah Boriall. Born in 1900. Died in 1926. Age 26. Wife and Mother. Taken too soon. I miss you already'. Then there was a smaller tombstone, one that hadn't been made by an artisan. It was hand chiseled in the same writing as on Jake's tombstone. 'To my unborn daughter. We never even got to give you a name'. His wife…her radiant red hair shimmering in the sun, her pale skin almost glowing and her orange eyes staring at him with mischievous intent. He wondered what their daughter would have looked like.

These people were now lying six feet under in graves that had been carved out all too soon. Tears rolled down Kane's face as he turned and walked away from the graveyards and out onto the empty streets of Central. No one was up yet. It was a Saturday. No one would be up at seven. Unless you were the military.

He wrapped his jacket around himself tightly because for some reason, despite his abnormally high body temperature, he just couldn't get warm. It was as if the cold breath of Death, who laughed silently over his shoulder, was leeching it away from him. A cold wind blew through, stirring up the fallen leaves and bringing more to the ground. All around him was death. He couldn't escape it. He had failed to protect everyone he loved.

"_Get out of here!"_

"_Jake if you stay you'll die!"_

"_And if I don't stay we'll all die now run!"_

The words from that fateful day in 1916 ran through his head. It had been a couple months after he had met his wife-to-be that her father's men had come and gunned down Jake. They had been after Nyemah because she had escaped from her father who happened to be a filthy rich company owner and was planning to marry her off to some bastard who didn't deserve her. He could still remember his last words with him.

"_Jake! Jake buddy…hold on! Please! Don't close your eyes!" _

"_Is she…okay?" _

"_She's fine but we need to get you to a hospital!" _

"_I won't make it and you know it…see you in hell Kane."_

"_You won't go to hell. Not after this...you'll go to heaven."_

"_What heaven…?" _

He remembered handing his body over to his mother who had broken down right there in front of him. They had had to leave for they were being followed. She had buried her son out there by herself.

Then there was Nyemah only a few months ago. They had been living up in the North, she was five months pregnant and things were going well. Until they found them that early summer night. Her father had not given up on his search. He had found them during the night and had attacked. Her father was determined to get her back. He had sent his men to find and kill Kane so she would have no temptation to run from her arranged marriage anymore.

But they shot her instead. It had been a stray bullet that had whizzed by his body and shot her in between the eyes. He had massacred them for that but it was too late. The death had been instant. No chance for pain or goodbyes. They had killed two people that day. Not only his wife but his child as well. He had taken the body and burned it then brought it down and buried it in the graveyard right next to Jake. His heart was hardened and the world seemed icily cold. Just like the realm of which he belonged to. The snow and ice, the Polar Bear. He was a polar bear chimera. So perfect had he been that he could actually transform into a much more perfect version of the polar bear with enhanced strength, speed, eyesight and hearing. Not to mention he was quite a bit bigger. His looks proved this. His hair was as white as snow and his eyes were the color of ice. They used to sparkle when he smiled.

But now all was dim.

Kane walked back down the familiar back alleys and streets until he came to the broken down shack that had once been his home here in the ghetto of Central. It used to stand upright and, though abandoned, had been in good shape. But now half the roof was missing, the wood was rotting badly and it leaned up against the building next to it. Looked like no one had lived in it in years. Not since he had left ten years ago.

"It is times like these I wish I had never gotten free from that lab. Then Jake and Nyemah would still be alive." He said to the clear blue sky. Then he chuckled half-heartedly. He could imagine what both of them would say.

"_Kane, you're stupider than I thought..." _That would be Jake and all of his attitude. And then there was Nyemah.

"_Kane you dope! If you weren't there, life wouldn't have been nearly as much fun!"_ She was always looking on the brighter side.

Kane turned from that painful place and left down the road that led to the little housing place that had been Nyemah's first hideout until she had come upon Jake and Kane. But he stopped. He couldn't go there either. Everything was either Jake or Nyemah. While Jake's memories rested in the ghetto and up on the hill at the mansion he had always wanted, Nyemah's rested everywhere. Every step he took he could remember something that had happened. Whether it was gum in his hair that she had stuck there or milk coming out her nose from a joke he had told. Even the smallest bit of conversation. And though he had never truly gotten over Jake's death, no matter how hard he had tried, he had at least accepted that things couldn't change. This was too fresh, too sudden.

Kane sat down on the bench that rested near the main park and put his head in his hands.

"Losing people is the most difficult yet most common fact of life." Kane jerked his head up to find a man standing next to him. Kane hadn't even heard or smelled him. One moment he was just…there. He looked up at the man's face, taking in what he saw. He was about as tall as he was but just about three inches shorter, making him 6'3. His hair was a chestnut brown that hung behind him in a low ponytail and his eyes were a blue that made you want to stare at them forever. That deep electric blue. On his body he wore tan pants over shadowed by a knee length brown coat with a hat to match. He wore shoes that looked like they had come from a dress party. The shiny black look made them noticeable.

"Who are you?" Kane said coldly. He had never like people who butted into other's problems without permission.

"Me? I'm what is known as a blast from the past."


	2. A Ticket Back

"Blast from the past?" Kane looked at him like he was a madman.

"Yes. Don't you recognize me? Come on...you helped me escape the day you broke out of the lab." He smiled a familiar smile. Kane recognized it from long ago, back when he was just a kid. He remembered befriending a kid in the cage next door with those eyes. He remembered him being quite the comedian, making fun of the scientists when they were out of earshot.

"D…Darius?" He asked, looking at him closely. He could remember those eyes. They had always been full of rebellion or wet from small tears of laughter that usually hid pain.

"Bingo!" Darius's grin widened but then settled into a flat line. His eyes grew serious. "But I didn't come here to catch up with you. In fact, I've come to offer my help."

"Your help? What help do I need?" Kane asked, crossing his arms across his chest. What did he know about his situation?

"Your very sanity is in danger of slipping. Kane, some people are meant to die early. Others are not. Most of the cases, they are planned accidents or killings seen by Fate. Basically, they were meant to die that young. Others, Fate did not foresee. The police, for instance, back in 1916. They weren't supposed to shoot your friend. You all could have escaped but Jake, who would have run, finally made a stand. And your wife. That bullet was to have hit you in the shoulder and you still would have killed them all." Darius replied matter-of-factly. Kane's eyes widened a great deal.

"How do you know so much Darius? I have neither seen, heard nor even smelled you even within the past 17 years! And just now, you know my senses. They are very enhanced. How could I have not sensed you?"

"Because I too was tested on and supposedly botched. Instead of a chimera, one of the scientists tried to make me something greater. It didn't work and I became what is known as a catalyst." He said, avoiding the question.

"Catalyst...you speed up certain processes?"

"Correct Kane. When I got out, I didn't know where to go. I had no home, no money and no one to stick with. I had followed you but had gotten lost in the dark. But, a kind man took me in. He said I looked like a promising boy. He taught me Alchemy."

"Alchemy? Why alchemy?" They had been in an Alchemist's Lab! Why alchemy?

"Because he was an alchemist of course! I couldn't let him down. Not after his kindness." He smiled a devil's grin. "Of course, having been made into what I am, I succeeded greatly, able to carry out the processes of alchemy with much less time. It was almost instant. Soon, I became engrossed in the art. I found out about the Philosopher's Stone and made it my goal to seek it out and use it to help the people who actually needed it because I knew about people who did things for their own purposes. I didn't want to end up like them if I found such a great power."

Darius stopped talking and he led Kane back over to the bench where both of the men sat down. He breathed and then began once more. "I searched years for it until I came upon how to make it." He stopped again and looked Kane straight in the eye. "Do you know what the Philosopher's Stone's main ingredient is?"

Kane gazed right back with a raised eyebrow. "I don't know a thing about alchemy except for what I overheard in the lab Darius. What is it?"

Darius leaned in close to Kane's ear. "Human beings."

Kane drew away and looked at him with disgust. "Human beings? Why?"

"The Philosopher's Stone uses the souls of the living to bring the dead back to life. Haven't you heard of that use? It can overcome the law of Equivalent Exchange. In order to gain something, something of equal value must be lost. That is the whole reason behind the Philosopher's Stone! And Kane, well, I made one."

Kane stared at him as if he were the worst serial rapist/killer in the world. The word 'Why' was all he could muster out of his already dry throat.

"Because I knew I had to. Eventually, it would come in handy. Especially with what my research came up with." Darius sat back against the back of the bench and closed his eyes. "It is rather an experiment than hard truth. I asked myself, 'what if I could use the Philosopher's Stone to overcome time itself?' By combining the symbols of time, space and transportation along with several years of work and research, I came up with a theory and a plan. I etched my circle, my new one, into the basement of my workplace in the year of 1916. Kane, I need to test this theory. You seem like the perfect candidate. You have nothing to lose anymore than your own life and that won't happen. I built it with a fail-safe. If it works, I may have stumbled upon the greatest and most feared discovery of our time. Will you help me?" Darius finished and opened his eyes, glancing at Kane with a look of pleading.

"You're telling me that you can send me back in time? To what year?"

"The same year I etched that circle. 1916." He replied, sitting up. "Just think about it Kane. You can go back and fix past mistakes."

Kane sure did think. He had been thinking ever since Nyemah died. 'Can I go back in time and fix what I have done?' 'Is there a way?' He had now found one in the form of an old friend. Darius sounded like he could do it. And, as he said, what did he have to lose? Nothing. Kane had nothing to lose.

"Why not?" He finally answered. Darius smiled.

"I knew I could count on you. Now, tell me, where do you wish to end up?"

Kane looked at Darius quizzically. Darius laughed. "Right. After we transport you, you have to go somewhere. Where do you wish to be?"

Kane thought for a moment. "Right here." He said.

"Alright. Pick up everything you need. We do this tonight."


	3. A Twist in Time

"Are you sure you have everything?" Darius asked Kane as he drew the circle.

"Yes. I have everything." He replied as he waited. The night was dark, lit only by the crescent moon and various stars casting their light upon the Earth amidst the few outdoor lamps.

"There." Darius said at last, wiping his brow. A giant array stretched out before him, its complicated symbols and weaving lines gave Kane a headache. "Now, Kane, this is a one way ticket. Once you go you cannot come back as far as I know unless you live these ten years out. You know that right?"

"What's ten years to save two innocent lives?" Kane said in a monotone voice that made you shiver.

"Very true. Come on. We have to go back to the workplace. My basement."

They walked through the night until they came to a small house that stood near to the park. Darius took a key out and let them in. He locked the door behind him and led him down a pair of hidden stairs into a room covered in papers and drawings.

"Sorry. It's a bit messy. Over here." He led him to the array that was the exact same one that had been recently drawn right near the park. "Stand in the center."

Kane did as he asked and went over into the center, looking at it. It had actually been carved into the floor.

"No regrets?" Darius asked, getting to his knees. Kane smiled for the first time in a long while.

"No regrets my friend."

"When you arrive, don't forget to stay out of sight of Nyemah and Jake."

"What…Wh...?" Kane didn't get to finish as Darius put his hands, which held the palm sized Philosopher's Stone to the circle's edge and it lit up a bright green. Darius himself became covered in green markings and then Kane was gone, vanished.

Or so the common person would think.

In reality, Kane was holding tightly to his things while he was being flung through a darkness he didn't know. It was a lit darkness but there was no light. He could see faint images of trees shrinking back as he went back in time, of children growing younger and, for a brief second, himself. He shook his head and then, the next thing he knew, he was standing in the blistering heat of summer near the bench next to the park. He looked over at the bench. It looked like it had just been built.

"That was built in 1915…did it really work?" He looked around. The buildings looked younger and the tree he had been standing next to was shorter and was sprouting green leaves out of its branches instead of losing them. He walked a bit then heard a crunch. He looked down and saw a newspaper that had missed the trash bin. He picked it up and read the date.

"July 3rd, 1916." He read and dropped the paper. Darius was right! It had worked! He was back in 1916! Then Kane thought back to the day Jake had died. It had been July 9th! His death was only six days away! He had to find him.

_When you arrive, don't forget to stay out of sight of Nyemah and Jake._

The words sounded through Kane's head. It had been the last thing Darius had said to him. What had it meant? Why did he have to stay out of sight? He ran over to the nearby graveyard. He looked up at the sign. It read 'Central Cemetery'. He walked in, almost daring not to breathe. He looked over at the spot where the tombstones should have been.

And there was no sign of them. Not even the grass they had been out in was touched. He ran out, almost jumping for joy but then remembered his reason for coming back. He ran quickly down the street and into the back alleys where he stopped very quickly. The house was standing upright, looking actually fairly decent. And there was talking inside. He put his things on his back and crept up to the low window. There were voices. Three distinct voices. Kane peered inside just enough to see but not be seen. He knew how his own house worked. He could see Nyemah doubled over in laughter, tears streaming down her face. He could see Jake, laughing at the joke that had made Nyemah burst and then he saw...

Himself?! He saw himself chuckling at the same joke!

All the feelings of joy were swept away and replaced by feelings of utter confusion. And then Kane understood Darius's words. He couldn't allow himself to be seen by his younger self who was constantly around them. And, they would wonder why, if they did see him without the other Kane around, he was so much older. He backed off but stepped on a branch and grimaced as it snapped in half. He heard everything stop and people moving along with very quiet hushes. He got up and hightailed it out of there. He could hear footsteps behind him. He dashed out and down a side street and then turned to look at the pursuer. He saw himself, the ten-year younger Kane chasing after him. He also saw his younger self's eyes open wide as he saw his face and he tripped over a rock he had failed to notice and went skidding on the pavement.

And older Kane made his escape, running and hiding in the Cave as it was called because it was a dark and very downtrodden house that sat rotting near the edge of the Ghetto and no one liked to go inside due to the massive amounts of dust and cobwebs, not to mention rodents. Kane sat on the ground, breathing hard. He took his sack off his back and pulled out a small pistol and held it, pointing up at the ceiling. It was the very gun he had had these ten years ago and had almost gotten rid of it after Jake had died. He was glad he didn't. He had always felt safer with a gun in his pocket or hand.

But he still hoped he wouldn't have to use it. He had just six days to go.

But he had a plan. He just had to figure out how to make it happen.


End file.
